Unleashing theNew AfricanCorporate Leader

Visionary LeadershipAre you the kind of Boss worth working for?

3rd Edition - August, 2013

Developing Africa’s Human Capital www.legacyandlegacy.com.gh

The VVIP Called Sheba

IDEAS AUGUST 2013

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EDITORIAL

IDEAS 2013AWARDWINNERS

ARTICLEare you the kind of boss...

ARTICLEDoes leader-ship capacity enhance...

ARTICLEvisionary leadership

SPRINGBOARDphoto story

IDEAS 2013speakers profile

IDEAS 2013speakers profile

Publisher/Editors in Chief

Art Director

Contributors

Albert & Comfort Ocran

Nana Abban Koomson

Albert & Comfort OcranKweku Bedu-AddoJames Ebo WhytePaul Rex DanquahTheophilus Quartey

ARTICLEthe VVIP called sheba

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“Only three things happen naturally in or-ganizations: friction, confusion and under-performance. Every-thing else requires lead-ership.” - Peter Drucker

Another edition of the most informative and in-novative business maga-zine, the Ideas Magazine, is here again. Ideas Mag-azine is the call for big dreams, big ideas and big business innovations that can transform institutions beyond their systemic bar-riers. “I like thinking big. If you are going to be think-ing anything you might as well think big.” - Donald Trump.

This 3rd edition of the mag-azine coincides with exciting upcoming events including the Festival of Ideas 2013, Ideas awards, Teenpreneur-ship season 7 and the famous Springboard Road Show. These events are an affirma-tion of the commitment by Legacy & Legacy in conjunc-tion with Springboard Road Show Foundation to empower generations of African entre-preneurs and leaders.

It is time for all transformation-al leaders in our society to con-verge and unleash the plans that can transform our continent from the shallows to the heights of greatness. This is what Festi-val of Ideas 2013 is about and it

is under the theme “Unleashing the New Afri-can Corporate Leader.” Key components of this theme will be Institutional Capacity Building, Vi-sionary Leadership, Modernising Organisations, Succession Planning and Business Networking.

“Building Madibas” is the umbrella under which teenagers all over the country are gathering to be mentored with the right leadership skills that will build them into visionary and trans-formational leaders towards the next genera-tion. Teenpreneurship season 7 is the event and it is the programme that has trained over 2,500 teenagers in entrepreneurship, communication, sales, business planning, ethics and other skills and attributes required for career success.

Your popular Springboard Road Show is warm-ing up for the 2014 edition. Beginning next year, the road show will move up to a brand new level with distinctive features that will enrich partici-pants’ learning experience. The 2014 road show promises to be more interactive with amazing features that will be rewarding to every partici-pant.

In the effort to continuously provide the hu-man capital development that our society needs, Springboard broadcast continues to air on Mul-tiTV every Sunday at 3pm, Saturdays on eTV. The Virtual University now broadcasts daily on 15 radio stations across Ghana.

This year’s edition of Ideas Magazine has very interesting articles from role models and expe-rienced change makers who have shared best practices from their field of excellence.

Enjoy the read.

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In writing this essay, I have deliberately steered off personalities, gender, nationali-ty and religion to make the article as neutral

as possible. The main objective is to cause read-ers to reflect carefully in qualities they look for in leadership and align them to outcomes they expect. Like everything else in this life, there are principles to follow. Principles are universal and therefore outcomes are predictable.

In aviation, a twin jet refers to an aircraft pow-ered by two engines. The twin jet aircraft is the most popular for both commercial and fighter planes because it offers both safety and fuel ef-ficiency relative to other aircraft configurations. Similarly, in the world of armaments, a double barreled firearm has two parallel barrels that allow two shots to be fired in very quick suc-cession, making it highly efficient and effective. What has “Visionary Leadership” got to do with weapons and aircraft? A person who dem-onstrates visionary leadership comes packaged with two equally complex but critically essential attributes. That individual is a rare gift to so-ciety because of the capacity, insights and the instincts to navigate a complex world in order to create a hitherto nonexistent outcome for a community that they are part of. Their legacy often stands the test of time and transcends generations.

Visionary leaders typically have a conviction. They stand for something and it’s usually some-thing monumental and life transforming. They also possess the ability to execute, to inspire a following around a common purpose. A vision-ary leader operates in a certain paradigm that only few can grasp immediately. Because of their rare perceptive gift, they are often lonely, misunderstood, maligned or in extreme situa-tions could be destroyed. Please do not confuse the presence of friends, professional colleagues and family around a visionary leader to mean absence of loneliness. The loneliness is not a physical one. It is a state of mind. The visionary leader’s best friend is time because its passage often offers vindication. Sometimes posthu-mously, unfortunately.

In today’s world, we see so much strife, pov-erty, wars and conflicts, disease and insecurity. Quality Leadership lies at the heart of all this chaos and dissatisfaction. Humanity yearns for a certain kind of leadership ideal but hopes get dashed easily by the kind of leadership that emerges in most spheres of life. Sometimes a unique individual or group of individuals emerge from a community who possesses the rare ability to combine strong vision with an ability to steer the affairs of men in such a way as to create desirable and enduring outcomes which last for generations. To attain visionary

Kweku Bedu-AddoCEO, Standard Chartered Bank - Ghana

A R T C L EI

leadership qualities is not an accidental act of nature or conjunction of events. Being vision-ary and having the ability to lead people are two discrete and mutually exclusive processes that require the endurance of time, apprenticeship, experience, good observation and good judg-ment. To possess visionary leadership qualities is to possess a twin jet engine, capable of trans-forming the destiny of a family, a company, an entire nation or even the world to a more desir-able state or outcome.

Becoming visionary starts with finding your true purpose. Discovering your true purpose puts your mind and body in equilibrium. Your efforts in life become meaningful. Discovering your true purpose is important because inner peace and alignment of mind and body may prove elusive if destiny thrusts a responsibil-ity upon you that is in conflict with your true purpose, whatever it is. Vision emerges from the discovery of true purpose, reinforced by a burning determination to transform that true purpose into physical reality. Vision is eventual-ly crafted and shaped over time through mental iterations and physical experiences that form part of the journey of discovering your true purpose. A good vision makes a compelling argument for future and desirable outcome and serves as a magnet for others to share owner-ship and commitment to the effort required to achieve that vision. For people to share in your vision, your true purpose must resonate with people. That true purpose must normally be a higher calling that calls for sacrifice and endur-ance but leads to an outcome that transcends generations. It cannot be a self-centered one.

A good leader is one who communicates well and conveys trust, integrity, honesty, energy, purpose, humility, courage, fairness, kindness and compassion but is goal driven and insists on high performance standards. For purpos-es of this article, I will dwell on honesty, integ-rity and purpose although a lot more is required of a leader.

The absence of good leadership often leads to needless suffering for society. Leadership is

a sacred glue that holds society together and points them in a certain direction. When lead-ership lacks the characteristics listed above, then that glue fast loses its adhesive power and overtime society disintegrates and loses its way. Mistrust grows, anxiety replaces calmness. You do not make good decisions when you are anx-ious and desperate and so adversity ultimate-ly rules the day for many. For this reason, as a leader, you need a lot of self-consciousness. You need to watch yourself and your actions at all times. High office, excellence and competi-tion are compatible with honesty and integrity. Always remember that the higher you go in life, the more visible your integrity or lack of it be-comes. As a leader, your level of dedication and commitment to a purpose sends clear signals to your followers. A good leader acts with purpose and gets followers to also act with purpose. Be-coming a good leader is a difficult, less travelled journey. It is an arduous journey that also may involve losses and short term sacrifices.

So a visionary’s work produces desirable re-sults that transcend many generations. The good leader’s stewardship empowers peo-ple to reach greater goals for themselves than they would have otherwise achieved.

I hope you can now discern how awesome it is for society when a visionary leader emerg-es from its midst using the twin jet engine or double barrel analogy. To be visionary and to be a good leader simultaneously presents so-ciety with a force of nature that can accelerate its progress from a human and material stand point. It does not matter whether you are in politics, business, NGO, or Academia. You can make a difference as a leader. So the question that begs is, where are these visionary leaders? Why don’t they come forward? Are there any in our midst today or they belong to times gone by? My response to you: would you recognise a visionary leader if he or she revealed himself or herself to you today? That is the bigger and more important question society should ask it-self !

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About the Ideas Awards

The idea of an annual award for young Ghanaian achievers was conceived by Legacy & Legacy to climax the 5th edition of the Festival of Ideas in August 2011. Over the past years, the festival sought to help nurture great ideas and also to empower participants to act with cour-

age and make a difference in their world. It’s all about moving from thoughts to action and impact.

The award focuses on Ghanaian achievers under 40 years because the future of our continent be-longs to the youth. It’s not so much about awarding the past as they are igniting the future. Beyond celebrating past success, we seek to inspire greater future achievements.

Our honourees will consistently reflect the “New African” that Ghana’s 1st President Dr. Kwame Nkrumah spoke about: One who persists in spite of the odds, shows courage in the face of fear and exhibit creativity in the midst of chaos. Each celebrant would also have championed a cause that they need not have pursued, but which ultimately proved beneficial to the wider society.

PREVIOUS AWARD WINNERS

Bright Simons

2011 2012

Franklin CudjoeAto-Ulzen

AppiahJohn Armah

Farida Nana Efua Bedwei

G. Ayorkor Korsah

WINNERS

Manasseh Azure Awuni is a senior broadcast Journalist with Joy FM. A product of Krachi Senior High School, Manasseh Azure Awuni graduated from the Ghana Institute of Journal-ism in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and went to read for a Master of Arts in Communication Stud-ies at the University of Ghana’s School of Communication Studies. Before joining Joy FM in November 2012, Manasseh worked as a freelance journal-ist, focusing on rural reporting and reports which highlight the plight of the poor and vulner-able in the society. In the two years of his practice, Manasseh won eight competitive journal-ism awards, including Ghana’s Most Promising Journalist for 2010 and Journalist of the Year for 2011.

Raindolf Owusu is the de-veloper of Africa’s first web browser. He is a wonderful blend of technological geek and pragmatic solver of eve-ryday problems. He is also the founder and CEO of Oasis WebSoft, a software develop-ment company that aims to solve real life African problems. His software and web projects include deploying Africa’s first web browser called Anansi web browser, Anansi Calcpad, Afri-can Grading program and Dr Diabetes, a simple web appli-cation that allows you to know your diabetes status online.

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Dr. Yaw Perbi is a medical doctor by training and has practised medicine in both his home country, Ghana, and with the United Nations Op-eration in Cote d’Ivoire. He is a renowned author-publisher, a sought-after preacher, inspi-rational teacher and life coach for scores of emerging leaders around the world (see www.yawperbi.com). Although a man of many parts, his fore-most passion is holistic emerg-ing leadership development.

Dr. Yaw Perbi - HuD Group

Manasseh Azure Awuni - Multimedia Broadcasting Ghana

Raindolf Owusu - Oasis WebSoft

IDEAS AUGUST 2013

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Mensa Otabil

Joseph Winful

Ndidi Nwuneli

Patrick Awuah

Dr. Patrick Awuah is the Founder and President of Ashesi University College, a private, not-for-profit institution that has quickly gained a reputation for innovation and quality education in Ghana.

Before founding Ashesi, Patrick worked as a Program Manager for Microsoft where, among other things, he spearheaded the development of dial-up internetworking technologies and gained a reputation for bringing difficult projects to completion.

He holds bachelor degrees in Engineering and Economics from Swarthmore College, and an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. In 2004, Swarthmore awarded Patrick an honorary doctorate in recognition of his leadership in African higher education and on May 18, 2013, he was also honoured by Babson College with an Honorary Doctorate in Law.

Ndidi Nwuneli is a Co-Founder/Director of AACE Food Processing & Distribution, an indigenous agroprocessing company and a Director of Sahel Capital Partners. She has years of experience in international development and has supported a range of clients across Africa.

She was recognised as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and received a National Honor—Member of the Federal Republic—from the Nigerian Government. In 2011, she was listed as one of the 20 Youngest Power African Women by Forbes.

Dr. Mensa Otabil is a Pastor, educator, entrepreneur and consultant. He is the Founder and General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church with its network of Churches. He is also the Chancellor of Ghana’s premier private university – The Central University College

Mr. Joseph Winful is the Senior Partner/CEO of the Ghana Office and an Exco Member and Board Member of KPMG Africa. He has oversight responsibilities for Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Prior to becoming the Senior Partner, he was the Head of the Advisory/Consulting Unit of the Practice since 1992. Prior to that, he worked as Project Manager at Canada Port Corporation in Canada.

THE SPRINGBOARD ROADSHOW IN PICTURES

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festival of ideas 2013 | Speakers Profile

Albert & Comfort Ocran

Praveen Sadalage

Pikay Richardson

Ato Van-Ess

Albert & Comfort Ocran are award-winning motivational speakers, authors and corporate training consultants. Albert serves as Executive Pastor at ICGC Christ Temple while Comfort runs their businesses and the Springboard Road Show Foundation. For seven consecutive years, the couple has travelled nationwide with the annual Spring-board Roadshow.

They host Springboard, the Virtual University, a motiva-tional seminar that airs on radio and television. Together, they have authored 20 bestselling books and won a number of prestigious awards for their work.

Prof. Pikay Richardson is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Manchester Business School. He is a seasoned economic and management development educator and consultant.

Dr Richardson has over 20 years of experience in the design and delivery of short executive development courses for in-service managers and executives in the UK and many other countries. He regularly conducts training programmes and consults for companies in the UK, France, Germany, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India, Jamaica, Nigeria and Ghana.

Mr. Praveen Sadalage has an MBA in Finance, an Bachelor’s Degree in Science (B.Sc. Electronics), Manage-ment Diploma in Business Management and Marketing, and a Diploma in International Business. He is currently the Managing Director of BusyInternet, Ghana’s premier Internet service provider. Praveen has over 22 years of experience in Sales, Operations, General management and administration, and in diverse fields of office automation, Telecom and Internet data access and IPTV. His expertise is in strategy, change management and business turnaround.

Ato Van-Ess is the Chairman of the Sekondi-Takoradi Cham-ber of Commerce and Industry and the Project Director for the Jubilee Livelihood Enhancement and Enterprise Devel-opment (JUBILEE LEED).

He is the Chief Executive Officer of Eff-Ess Company Limited where he oversees all operations in the company’s Oil and Gas Training and Business Management unit and the retail Pharmacy outlets. Ato is a certified CEFE Trainer and an accredited BUSAC Fund Trainer and Service Provider.

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Leading the Way in Broadcasting / Public Relations / Events / Creatives Services

There is a question every boss should ask himself or herself from time to time: are you the kind of boss worth working for?

You see, some bosses are not worth working for no matter how much they pay you. In this article, I want us to look at a checklist to help any boss determine if he is one worth working for or not:

1. Do you care about your staff? There are bosses who simply don’t care for their staff. They believe that all they owe their staff is their salary and once they pay the salary, noth-ing about the worker is their concern. That is the mindset of a terrible boss who is not worth work-ing for. The boss who is worth working for knows that the staff are human beings who may from time to time have issues and challenges, and he

keeps a look out for these so that he can be there for the staff who needs his help and counsel.

2. Do you insist that every one puts in a decent day’s work and meets their targets? Sometimes, people make the mistake of thinking that the boss who does not insist on results is a good boss. No, he is not. The boss who does not insist on results is a terrible boss who is not worth working for because such a boss will ensure that you are jobless tomor-row. A good boss does not accept non-performance or poor performance. He sets targets and pushes his staff to meet those targets. That kind of boss is worth working for because every worker needs a boss who will force the best out of him.

3. Do you develop your staff or do you give them op-portunities to develop themselves? A good boss understands that human resource devel-opment should be a priority for him. He takes time to teach his staff or he encourages them to look out for opportunities to develop and add value to them-selves. It must be the pride of every boss to so develop those who serve under him that whenever they move on, they can move on to higher things because of the value he has added to them.

4. If someone worked with you for 5 years, will the person be able to see any improvement in his life and in his standard of living? If you are worth your title as a boss, then those who work for you and with you should see improvement in their lot in working with you. Those who work with you should be able to reap the rewards of their labour in all kinds of ways. And if nothing has changed about the people who are working with you after 5 years, then they have wasted their time working with you.

5. Do you build a team spirit in the work place or do you divide and rule your staff? A lot of bosses divide their staff so they can dominate and manipulate them. That is not good. A good boss, the kind worth working for builds team spirit among the staff in all kinds of ways. He creates the environ-ment in which the staff work for each other and help each other to achieve the goals and objectives of the company.

6. Do you harass and molest the female staff? Do you victimise those who will not give in to you? If you are a male boss, let me ask you: are your female staff safe with you? Are people’s wives safe with you? Are people’s daughters safe with you? It is unfortu-

ARE YOU THE KIND OF BOSS WORTH WORKING FOR?

Written by James Ebo Whyte,

CEO, Roverman Productions

A R T C L EI

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nate that some bosses think that their female staff are part of their fringe benefits. They harass the fe-male staff and when they don’t get their way with them, they victimise them. Such bosses are not worth working for. Ladies who want to sell themselves, don’t go to school to get qualifications to work in offices. So if a lady has made the necessary sacrifices to take herself through school to earn the right qualifications to work for you, you should understand that she has no intention of selling herself. It is traumatic for a lady to get a job based on her qualifications only to discover that the boss wants her to keep the job by giving him sexual favours. The bosses worth work-ing for do not demand sexual fa-vours and they do not harass the female staff.

7. Do you demand that your staff do the wrong things or that they break the rules? In one of the episodes of the second season of the American television series West Wing the President meets one of his aides in a time of severe crisis and tells him, “If you lie even once to pro-tect me, you are finished with me, do you understand that?” A boss worth working for does not en-courage his staff to break the law or to do things that are not law-ful. A boss should have integrity and he should infuse that in all his staff.

8. Are you firm and fair? There is nothing more frustrat-ing than to have a boss who is too soft, a boss who cannot take firm decisions and one who buckles under pressure. And yet a lot of bosses make the mistake of think-ing that they can get into the good books of their staff by being soft. Bosses should understand that

leadership is not a popularity con-test. Staff really appreciate a boss who is firm and fair, one who ap-plies the rules fairly but firmly. Al-lowing people to do whatever they like is not the mark of a good boss who is worth working for.

9. Do you reward achievement and results? Do you show appreciation for great performance? Workers who work hard to put in great perfor-mance and achieve good results deserve and expect to be appre-ciated. Sometimes just a “Well done” from the boss is enough. Sometimes a little financial reward will do the trip; sometimes an ac-knowledgement or a recognition before other staff will be enough. But whatever form it takes, achievement and results should be rewarded. When a boss fails to reward or recognise achievement and results, the staff lose the in-centive to put in outstanding per-formance.

10. Do you respect your staff? The fact that someone is working for you is not excuse for you to be rude and disrespectful towards that person. I find that bosses who are rude to their staff create staff who are also rude to each other and to customers. A good boss who is worth working for treats his staff with respect and demands that the staff also treat each other and customers with respect.

11. Are you more than a boss to your staff? Are you a mentor and a role model to your staff ? Every boss has his job description but there are things that are required of a boss that are never put on a job description. A good boss must be more than the person to whom staff report; he must be more than

the person who gives instructions. A good boss must be more than a boss; he must be a mentor and a role model to his staff. If your staff cannot look up to you, you are not worth working for.

12. Do you have good judgment? The most important quality of a leader and a boss is the ability to make good decisions and that calls for good judgment. Without good judgment, a boss cannot make good decisions. So, how good is your judgment?

13. Are you a capable boss? There are bosses who just occupy an office and hold a title. At the end of the month, they draw their fat salary but beyond that, they do not make any real contribution to the company. A boss must be ca-pable and resourceful and must be excellent at achieving results and inspiring the staff to achieve re-sults.

14. Does the buck stop with you? A good boss is the one who can say that the buck stops with him. What it means is that he does not make excuses for the performance of his team; he takes full respon-sibility for the actions and inac-tions of his team. When things go wrong, he faces the fire and then takes remedial steps. He does not criticize his staff and blame them when things go wrong because he understands that as the boss he is responsible for whatever happens in his department or in his com-pany. The magic of a boss saying the buck stops with him is that it makes the boss take full respon-sibility and ensure that the staff do not disappoint. Such a boss is worth his weight in gold.

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A R T C L EI

Most people would treasure a rare op-portunity to meet

a celebrity, royal or a very fa-mous person for the very first time. They would probably not sleep the night before and af-ter the encounter would relive every single moment over and over. Many would even post the pictures and videos online and preserve them as a legacy for posterity. If you found out that someone held the key to the greatest opportunity of your life and business how would you re-late to that person? You could be meeting that person every day without knowing how pow-erful they really are. The customer is the single most important person in every business or venture. According to Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart Stores, “There is only one boss -- The customer. And he can fire eve-rybody in the company from the chairman down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” Whether you run a bank, church, online business, farm or services company, identify-ing your customer, anticipating their needs and meeting them faster, better or cheaper than the competition will ensure that you stay ahead of the pack. Many notable organi-

sations all over the world have risen to the top by applying this simple principle. A number of personal and organisational success stories can be traced to clearly identifying an exist-ing or emerging customer need and meeting them innovatively. The rise and fall of businesses has universally been premised on their ability or inability to pre-empt and respond to client needs in a manner that not only satisfies them but exceeds what-ever else is on offer. Organisations that de-liver exceptional customer ex-periences are thriving. It is no coincidence industry leaders all over the world also happen to be proponents of superior cus-tomer service. Examples also abound of businesses and or-ganisations that have declined or failed because they were dis-connected from the aspirations of their customers. A superior service ex-perience ensures that you re-tain your customers and their unflinching loyalty. This book could not have come at a bet-ter time. In today’s social media driven marketplace, brand ad-vocates spread their recommen-dations like wildfire, attracting hordes of new customers to customer-friendly organisa-tions. Considering the fact that

86% of consumers are willing to pay more for a better expe-rience, it is clear why these or-ganisations continue to achieve record profits. There seems to be a growing concern that quality customer service is becoming a rare form. This becomes even more evident as organisations get bigger and more complex. Today, there are shops and su-permarkets whose salespersons literally frown when you walk in. Paid executives of some compa-nies can be outright rude to you for daring to complain about service glitches. Call some or-ganisations and you will be kept on hold for minutes with very little explanation before some-one comes on the line or the call goes off. Service providers fail to meet delivery deadlines and do not seem to appreciate the cost and inconvenience in-volved. Several people in busi-ness seem to be too busy to pay attention to the one they claim to be working for. If you have ever been treated shabbily or taken for granted by someone who was supposed to be serving you, you will relate very easily to the thoughts and examples shared here. As a service provider, you will be challenged to better ap-preciate the needs of your cli-

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Albert

The VVIP Called Sheba

ents and commit to treating them as well as you would love to be treated by others. Customers overwhelmingly respond to great service with their wallets. This means that this series could also turn your financial fortunes and that of your organisation around. The Bible has often been referred to as the greatest man-agement book of all time. How-ever, many do not spend the time and effort to explore what it has to say about business, finance, in-vestment, personal development, career planning and all the related issues that engage the entrepre-neur or corporate executive on a daily basis. This series called “SHE-BA” sheds a compelling light on the all-important subject of cus-tomer service or relations. It uses the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon’s courts as a case study of how businesses, church-es, individuals and service organi-sations interact with their clients and how they can get them to enjoy a pleasant experience and leave with a good report. It seeks to prove that exceptional cus-tomer service is a timeless prin-ciple that is even more essential and relevant in today’s fast-paced, technologically-driven world than it was in the days of Solomon.

The Queen of Sheba (2 Chronicles 9:1-9&12)Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to Jerusalem to test Sol-omon with hard questions, having a very great retinue, camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart. So Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing so difficult for Solomon that he

could not explain it to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food on his table, the seating of his servants, the service of his waiters and their apparel, his cup-bearers and their apparel, and his entryway by which he went up to the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. Then she said to the king: “It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom. However I did not believe their words until I came and saw with my own eyes; and indeed the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me. You exceed the fame of which I heard. Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continu-ally before you and hear your wis-dom! Blessed be the Lord your God, who delighted in you, set-ting you on His throne to be king for the Lord your God! Because your God has loved Israel, to es-tablish them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.” And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, spices in great abun-dance, and precious stones; there never were any spices such as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon. Now King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all she de-sired, whatever she asked, much more than she had brought to the king. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants. The Queen of Sheba travelled a long distance to meet King Solomon, whose fame and wisdom she had heard so much about. Her observations and ex-periences provide the framework

for this series. Queen Sheba typi-fies a customer who hears about a product or service organisa-tion and decides to check it out for herself. Solomon stands for the CEO or head of a business or organisation that provides the service. Imagine that Solomon was a consultant specialising in leadership and governance issues. The queen had great expectations based on what she had heard through the various media outlets available at the time. She therefore travelled to consult him on a wide range of strategic issues. Before she even met Solomon, the queen intensely observed various pro-cesses, support services and per-sonnel that surrounded Solomon. She saw all those as part of the experience and a reflection of the wisdom of Solomon. Queen Sheba was impressed by what she saw and even more captivated by the answers that Solomon gave her. At the end of her visit, she gave an overwhelmingly positive verdict and described Solomon’s “consultancy” as far exceeding her expectations.

A customer encounter typically goes through five stages or pil-lars, namely: awareness, decision, experience, verdict and refer-ences. Like the Queen of Sheba, every customer hears about a ser-vice, decides to patronise it, par-ticipates in the experience, forms an impression and then tells the world. In subsequent articles we will explore each of these five stages in greater detail. (To be continued)

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Springboard

Do you aspire to be a successful entrepreneur?Do you need practical guidance on how to discover and optimise personal career? Are you an emerging leader seeking to reach the very top of your field? Would you like to be part of the exciting nationwide network of achievers being mentored to reach their full potential?

If your answer is yes to any of these questions, you need to join a Springboard Club near you. It’s an all-year round mentoring programme by Albert & Comfort Ocran focused on grooming generations of African Entrepreneurs and leaders.

Contact us on 0249999555 or info@springboard.com.gh or visit wwwww.springboard.com.gh for details.

The latent for extraordinary decisions definitely affects business performance within every organisation in Africa. Un-

fortunately, it only rests in books without any practical evidence to show in Ghana and Africa in general (Walter et. al, 2012). Leadership capa-bility in this continent of ours; is that potential—a very real positive feature concealed, obscured, apprehensive of conveying itself. The concept of leadership has been thoroughly pondered and explored in a sea of business books, even idolised in charismatic executives, sports coaches and even political parties (Walter et. al, 2012); but leadership in practice has been left out through-out Ghanaian business community. Companies forgo identifying, developing and leveraging leadership capabilities in deference to getting “real work” done—work that brings short-term value versus the multiplying and sustaining value of leadership growth and development (Walter et. al, 2012).

Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of Gen-eral Electric, who turned GE into one of the world’s most valuable companies, spent more than 50 percent of his time developing people, with a clear focus on developing leaders. Welch identified, developed and rewarded talented lead-ers for the results they delivered. He and GE created an environment where leadership faculty thrived—unleashed and unafraid. Nothing exists

in any organisation that creates greater capacity, performance or sustained value than deep, broad and consistent leadership development. Organi-sations that welcome the risks of allowing lead-ers to act, grow and flourish will quickly see that the string connecting leadership to greater busi-ness performance really is short.

Peter Drucker wrote, “Only three things happen naturally in organisations: friction, confusion, under-performance. Everything else requires leadership.” Without a real focus on leadership development, enabling leadership action and growth, organisations will continue to experi-ence friction, confusion and under-performance. That means they will continue to experience the same problems, drive up costs and drive out tal-ent (Walter et. al, 2012).

In dissimilarity, successful and empowered lead-ership drives organisational arrangement and focus and produces greater results, both expect-ed planned and unexpected innovative. Break-through business performance sits there for the taking, for any business in any industry in Ghana and Africa in general. Business owners in Gha-na should know that if they truly develop their leaders, they will inevitably experience a break-through in individual and business performance.

Paul Rex Danquah

IDEAS AUGUST 2013

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